Insiders - Issue #42

Welcome to the Airplane Academy Insiders Newsletter where I share aviation lessons learned, my latest content, and other helpful links. I'm glad you're here. Let's dive in!

Your Fellow Left-Seater,
Charlie

Charlie Gasmire

CSEL, CMEL, SES, IR, Tailwheel, Cessna 182 Owner

I Learned This From That

As we kick off 2026, I am reflecting on a couple big themes that I find encouraging (and they relate to flying):

1) If you want something to happen, you have to go make it happen.

This might sound obvious, but hear me out.

So many of us (myself included) have this thought:

"It would be awesome if ___ happened one day."

Whether that's becoming a pilot, switching careers, or chasing some other goal.

But if you want it to happen, no one is going to make it happen for you—and realizing that is actually empowering.

It's easy to assume your goal will just kind of happen one day, instead of taking ownership and taking steps towards it now.

It takes full ownership in order to bring your goals to life.

For example, I'm working really hard on my set of instrument flashcards.

If I think about it like "it will be awesome one day when those are live", I get little accomplished on it.

It has to move to the "I'm working on this TODAY because it matters that much to me" category.

Which leads me to the second point.

2) What inputs can we do TODAY that lead to our goal? Those inputs become the scoreboard.

A lot of our goals are outcome-based.

Lose x# of pounds.

Get my pilot's license.

Get my instrument rating.

Pay off the mortgage.

Those goals are important and meaningful. But progress happens through the inputs that get you there.

So whatever your goal is, boil it down to the action that has to happen NOW to make that goal happen.

That action becomes the daily and weekly scoreboard.

For example, if you want to get your pilot's license, the inputs might look like:

1 hour studying ground school, 3 days per week, plus:
1 flying lesson a week

Track those week by week, and it becomes very clear whether you’re doing the things that lead to your goal.

When your scoreboard is the inputs, it makes it something that you can take action on today.

If we take ownership and focus on the daily inputs, we can be confident that we will achieve our goals.

If we only daydream about the goal and don’t take ownership or action, it tends to stay in the "it would be cool if ___ happened one day" category.

And over time, that quiet drift is what ends up derailing the goal entirely.

Here's to making 2026 about the inputs that matter. It's not easy—but I'm working through it, too.

Your Fellow Left-Seater,
Charlie

Written Test, Checkride, or Flight Review in 2026?

Check out my set of 350+ private pilot study flashcards if you haven't already!

Click here to learn more!

My Latest Content

I just posted a big new video TODAY on the channel covering my honest thoughts from flying the brand new Cessna Turbo 206.

Check it out sometime over the weekend when you have a chance to watch!

I flew the Cessna T206. And it’s NUTS. (Full Review)

Gasmire Glimpse

What's been happening in our house lately:

Due with baby #3 in May! Last and final kid!
Our kids (4 and 3) got bikes for Christmas and it felt like the American Dream accomplished to ride around the neighborhood with them.
I got a Blackstone Griddle and absolutely love it. Highly, highly recommend.
Hot take: I'm not much of a New Year's resolution guy... if something is important enough to implement, it's important enough to implement now. The end of year is a great time to reflect and make appropriate changes. But as soon as you figure out what those changes are, I wouldn't wait to implement it. Do it. (See intro monologue.)